Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-03-05
LENTEN LAXITl.
A Week in Which Society is Absolutely
Dormant and Fails to Percept-
IDLY Respire.
on Account of which This Column il De-
voted TO DiTu>ing Information ON
Lent. Including Some Lrnten
Poetry.

| Lent, Including Soms Irnten
Poetry.
Society is dead. There are NO two way
about ii. If there's anything in a socii
/. way to write up this week. the investigs
!. ttions of the Young man who presdes in in
: tellectval state in this column, have bee
= = seriously barren of results. Nothing ha
+ "went on" at all. and Lent has held soleml
check over the gayety of gay Springfield
The future is full only of possibilities
There is talk" of this and that social en
, tertainment. but they may vanish like tn
mist when subjected TO the crucial test o
cold reporter Il invest alton.
MY friend and associate on the paper
"Cabriolet wrote little poem on Lent
this week, and as Lent Is all the rage
compelled him, at the point Of a pretZe
10 let me use il in this picturesque ruin,
which is the term that best applies 10 my
department this week. lie says he got the
idea FROM a little prose clipping in an ex,
change but the poetry is solely of his own
| ''cOmposure.'
The forty days fast is with us at last.
| When the good on repenting are bent.
| And gayety's game, all neglected and lame
Is abandoned because IL is Lent.
Each heart seems 10 feel the sweet. tender ap-
| peal
That the time in contrti"" "e spent.
| But no two Of those who & he good propose.
Make the same application If Lent.
There's the copper. august. whom tbs risky 10
BY this. no disparagement's meant
But the fact is well known-has been now and
ON his beat. he is too somno Lent.
There is poyerty's curse-is perdition much
With its SORROW and shame darkIy blenr.
Who can well contradict. lest with truth he
conflict.
That poverty's too preva- Lent
There's the onion of spring. a little. lean
weakling. but mighty with scent.
Its positive d,a'h to the pride-humbled
breath.
But the onion is quite succuL Lent.
VI
There's the feminine tongue. daintily hung
"a
l have heard II declared by the female-en
shared.
That womans tongues never silent.
There's the famous Swiss cheese. with its GO
asyou-please
meant,
It's the thing at high tesS'-but -er- pardon
NE. please.
It's smell is quite too redo Lent.
NH
There the maiden who toys with poor fei- |
lows Joys
Until AT her feet he is bent;
He begs for her heart-she returns I'VE must
part.
| am a good deal in the position of the |
party who asked for bread and received a |
stone. l asked society peOrle for news this |
week and they fling back a me that lit is (
Lent" All right, | accept the situation. |
and fancy | can give them all the Lent |
they require. By the way. | suppose that |
every one knows that to be thoroughly in
good form you must not call il Lent. but |
''jejunium quadre gesimale," which is
claimed to mean the fast of forty DAYS"
And here's gentle pointer on the dietary
obligations of Lent. as told in historic
volume of old English:
After the salad teaten in Lent at the
first Service) We eat fried beanes. by which
We understand confession. When We would
have beanes well Sodden. We lay them in
steepe. for otherwise they will never seeth
kindly. Therefore, if we purpose TO mend
our faults, il Is not sufficient barely IN con-
fess them at all adventure. but ~e must let
our confession lie in Steepe in the water of
A Limestone street dealer in Lenten edi-
bles says that the trade has opened with un-
usual activity. Ii is no longer the case that
only those who observe Lent as religious
duty pay close attention to the prescribed
diet Of that season. There are several rea-
SONS operating to increase the sale of Len
ten goods" Many people who have no
religious scruples involved think il quite the
proper thing 10 restrict themselves in the
matter of spring eating. Some hold that
he change from winter to spring calls for
radical change in the food: that nature
abstinence from meats for a sea-
on and that the digestive system yearnS
or recuperation. which comes through rest.
some go even further and say
hat the besom of ills that
n the spring-tim could be prevented if the
.
heir liverS and deSist from winter diet upon
he approach of Easter. Still others have
ound out that dealers on certain days are
prepared especially to supply in every
ariety all that may be eaten in the Lenten
'eriod. and that on these days one may look
or bargains. Thus on Tuesdays. WedneS-
lays and Fridays fast days.. fish dealers
make a special effort 10 have al command
very variety of piscatOrial diet. The
'cythian, Roman. Jew, bond or free. as
veil as the Catholic and the Protestant and
ii miscellaneous haathen, have come into
'osSeSsi0n of this fact, and on these days.
therefore,, the purchases of all go to swell
he general business.
The scarcity of fish in the past two ,
weeks has, fortunately, been relieved. .
fresh ocean. river and lake fish are COM
ng into market with some freedom. The ,
ierman carp. uansplanted into the waters ,
t the state. are now known in the market.
'erllaps the least desirable fish IN the mar
et-not of course, counting the unspeak
bic ''sucker'-is the white perch" The ,
more it is cooked the tougher it becomes,
nd il is like leather to begin with.
The forty days before Easter are not the
ull days in the meat market that might be =,
opposed. Butchers say that there is ,
carcely perceptlDle railing on III sales. | .
lests are not absolutely prohibited by the .
eligious bodies that observe Lent. 1t is
ule. the books say. that fish and flesh meat ,
must not be eaten by Catholics at the same
neal. but the bishop may authorize the use
# meats occasionally. There is suspicion
lsO that all the deyotees of Holy Kirk" ,
10 not scrupulously observe the law of the ,
eason. At any rate. the meat market is :
cry strong. and prices are going up. d;
whereas. if there was declining demand
or beef this could not be true. We are not
Wholly wicked in Springfield but we eat